Ladder attachment



July 22 1924. 1,502,490

' W. G. TACK LADDER ATTACHMENT Filed Jan. 16, 1923 William G. Twain,

Patented July 22, 924.

NIEDVSTATES 'WILLIAM G. TACK, or GABRETTSVILLE, oHIo."

LADDER ATTACHMENT.

Application filed January 16, 1923. serial'No. 612,966. I

Relating to Ladder Attachment-s, of which the following is aspecification.

,TlllS invention relates to certain improvements in ladder attachments;and the nature andv objects of the invention will be readily recognizedand understood by those skilled inthe arts involved in the light of thefol lowing explanation and detaileddescription of the accompanyingdrawings illustrating what I at present consider and believe tobe thepreferred embodiments or mechanical expressions of the invention fromamong various'other forms, arrangements, combi- 2 nations andconstructions of which the in vention is capable within the spirit andscope thereof. a

An object of the invention is to provide a ladder attachment which willsupport the end of a ladder spaced from an object on and against whichit may be desired or necessary to rest the ladder, so as to preventpossible damage or injury to the object due to the ladder contactingtherewith or bearing thereagainst.

A further object of the invention is to provide an attachment forsupporting a ladder spaced from and out of contact with an object on andagainst which it is desired to rest'a ladder, which attachment, will beso formed as to present an extended sup porting and bearing surface forengagement with the object and prevent displacement of. the ladder fromdesiredposition due to 410 slipping or to lateral or turning forceswhich may be applied to the ladder in use.

A further object of the invention is to form anattachment for supportinga ladder spaced from an object against which it is desired to rest theladder, of simple,'durable and inexpensive construction, and which isadapted for ready mounting on and removal froma ladder.

With theforegoing and various other objects in view, which other objectswill be readily recognized and appreciated by those familiar with thisart, the invention consists in certain novel features in constructionand in arrangements and combinations'of elements, as will be. more fullyand particu- Portage Y larly pointed out and specified hereinafter vReferring to the accompanying drawings :1 Fig; 1, is a perspective viewof one form. of the inventionappliedto a ladder mounted a 0160 Fig. 2,isa view inside elevation'ofan' attachment embodying theinvention appliedin position on and against a' building.

to a ladder, a portion only -.of the ladder being shown. i

Fig. 3, is a view in top plan of one side of an attachment of theinvention applied to a ladder,.one side bar only of the ladder beingshown. I

In the accompanying drawings one form and embodiment of the invention isillusadapted for use with and application to a well known generaltype ofladder. ever, itwill be apparent to those skilled in this art that thevarious features of the invention and principles involved are capabletion overcomes, is illustrated in Fig.1 of

the accompanying drawings. With a building of the type in which guttersor the like are mounted at the caves of the. roof, when it is desired tosupport or resta ladder on the roof, thela dderinust press and bearagainst the guttering and uponithe applicationof weight or pressure tothe ladder injury or damage to the gutteiing frequently results. Anexample of a roof ofthe above type in which these conditions areencountered vis illustrated in Fig. 1 of the drawings, and discloses aportion of a building B including a sloping or inclined roof R at theeaves E of which guttering G is mounted. A ladderlO of any desired typecomprising the spaced longitudinal side bars 11 and transverse rungs 12extending betweenand connecting the side bars 11 in the'usual manner isillustrated in position against and supported from therroof. RyttndHow-1 PATENT 0F FlCE .I-;

11-70 trated for purposes of explanation, as

spaced from and out of contact with the 'guttering'. G by means of anattachment substantially U-shaped clamps adapted to be secured to oneside of theladder 10 by attaching the same over and onto the sidebars 11of the ladder, as clearly shown 111113116 drawings. Each clamp 15 ispro- Vided with a clamping'screw 16 mounted in andextending through oneside plate thereof and adapted to engage aside bar 11 onto which theclamp is placed to. firmly and detachablysecure and confine the clamp intheydesired position on and to the ladder. An arm 17 extends rigidlyfrom the base or cross plate of each clamp 15, in the pres ent instanceintegral therewith although not so limited, and is inclinedlongitudinally of and outwardly from the clamp, so that in proper.mounted position of the clamp on a ladder the arm 17 extendsoutwardlyfrom .and is inclined downwardly withresp'ect to the ladder.The outer ends of the arms 17 are provided with the substantiallyU-shaped clamps 18 which are disposed at approximately right angles tothe clamps 15- connected thereto and spaced therefrom by the arms17. Theclamps 18 a 16 of the clamps 15.

are-so mounted on the ends of the arms 17 respectively, as toextendinsubstantial outward alinement therewith and disposed at an outward anddownward inclination in mountedposition, with respect to the clamps 1 5.Each of the clamps 18 is provided with an attaching screw'19 similar tothe screws In the illustrated exa'm le the clamps 18 are formed integralwit the arms 17, so that each pair of clamps 15 and 18 forms with theconnecting arm 17, a rigid integral unit. However,

attention is here directed to the fact that the invention contemplatesother than an in tegral connection of the clamps 15 and 18 ofeach' unit,and it is not desired to limit the invention to the construction andmounting shown and describedabove. y

In the application aiiclnse of the invention a pair of clamps 15 aresecured to the upper ends of the sidebars 11, respectively, of theladder 10, and in transverse alinement there-v on,..wit-h-the arms 17an'd'outer clamps 18 inclined outwardly and downwardly with respecttothe ladder, as clearly disclosed in Figs. 1 and-2. An extendingsupporting and bearing surface forming member 20 is provided, whichmember is secured in and extending between the clamps l8, transverselyacross and spaced from the ladder 10. In the illustrated example thesupporting mem ber 20'is formed by a plank or board-of l suflicie'ntlength to extend acrossthe ladder,

and secured at opposite points on the upper edge portion thereof in theclamps 18, by

means of the attaching screws 19 thereof. In this position the member 20extends across the ladder 10 and is inclined outwardly and downwardlytherefrom to provide at its outer portion the extended engaging surface21.

With the attachment embodying the features of the invention abovedescribed, mounted on and applied to the ladder 10, when it is desiredto place the ladder in position with its upper end resting onan object,for example the roof R of the build-. ing B, the supporting member 20;is placed in position with its extended bearing surface 21 engaging thesloping roof R, and due to the inclination of the member 20 and itsrigid spacing from the ladder 10,

the ladder is supported and; maintained spacedfrom and out of contact orengagement with the eaves E or guttering G which project outwardly fromthe roof and building. In this manner injury or damage to the eaves orguttering. of the building is avoided and the ladder is maintained indesired mounted position supported by the member 20, the extendedbearing surface 21 of which insures the ladder against slipping ordisplacement due to lateral, twisting or turning forces which may beapplied there to in use, as will be understood by those familiar withthe use of ladders.

The attachment can be readily removed from and applied to a ladderthrough the medium of the attaching screws of the clamps and due to theconstruction and arrangement of the clamps 18, any desired board, plank,or the like may be employed which obviates the necessity of maintainingand storing any specially constructed memher for this purpose, unless sodesired. The construction of the clamp units is extremely simple andprovides a durable but inexpensive attachment. Various other uses andapplications-are within the scope of th'e in vention, and theillustrated application-and use is intended merely to permit of an explanation of the invention. 7

It is evident that various changes, mode fications, variations andsubstitutions might be resorted towithout departing from the spirit andscop e of the invention, and hence I do not wish to limit myself to theexact disclosures hereof.

Desiring to protect my invention in the iii) adapted to be secured to aside bar of a ladder, an arm extending outwardly and inclined downwardlyfrom said clamp in mounted position, and a second clamp at the end ofsaid arm and disposed in a plane at an angle to the plane of said firstmentioned clamp.

3. In a ladder attachment, a clamp adapted to be secured on a side barof a ladder, an arm extending outwardly and inclined downwardly fromsaid clamp in mounted position thereof, a second clamp on the outer endof said arm and disposed in a plane at an angle to the plane of saidfirst clamp, and a supporting member mounted in said second clamp andextending outwardly therefrom, the said member forming a bearing surfacespaced from said first clamp.

4:. A ladder attachment comprising, apair of clamp units adapted to beattached at one end to the opposite side bars, respectively, of aladder, and a supporting member secured in and extending between theouter ends of said clamp units, the said member adapted to be inclinedoutwardly and downwardly from a ladder to which said units are attached.

5. As a new article of manufacture, a clamp unit for ladder attachments,comprising a clamp for attachment to the side bar of a ladder, an armintegral with and extending outwardly from said clamp at an anglethereto, and a second clamp at the outer end of and integral with saidarm, said second clamp disposed in a plane transversely of said firstmentioned clamp and adapted to receive and hold a supporting membertransversely of a ladder.

6. In combination with a ladder, a clamp attached to a side bar thereof,an arm extending outwardly and inclined downwardly from said clamp, asecond clamp at the outer end of said arm and in proximity to said sidebar clamp, and a supporting member having relatively great width mountedin said second clamp and extending outwardly therefrom at an inclinationto the ladder to form an extended bearing surface remote therefrom.

7. In a ladder attachment, a plurality of clamps adapted to be attachedto the side bars, respectively, of a ladder, an arm extending outwardlyfrom each side bar clamp at an angle thereto, a second clamp at theouter end of each arm in proximity to the side bar clamp thereof,respectively, and a supporting member having a relatively great widthmounted in said second clamps and extending therebetween, the saidsupporting member extending outwardly from said clamps and forming anextended bearing surface remote from a ladder to which said clamps areattached.

8. As a new article of manufacture, a clamp unit for ladder attachments,comprising a substantially U-shaped clamp for attachment to a ladder, anintegral arm extending outwardly from the base of said clamp rigidtherewith and inclined longitudinally with respect to the clamp, and asecond substantially U-shaped clamp at the outer end of said arm anddisposed transversely with respect to said first clamp.

Signed at Windham, Ohio, this 2nd day of January, 1923.

WILLIAM G. TACK.

